The Green Bay Packers have officially signed third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper. Over the Cap now has the details on what Hopper’s rookie deal will look like.
Hopper earned a standard four-year rookie contract that totals $5.678 million with a signing bonus of $949,472.
Hopper will receive the full signing bonus up front, but from a salary cap perspective, that $949,472 can be pro-rated over the life of the contract. Or, in short, the cap hit in 2024 from that bonus is just $237,368.
That pro-rated signing bonus amount plus a base salary of $795,000 will make up Hopper’s cap hit for this season, which totals $1.032 million.
Moving forward, beyond 2024, a $237,368 cap hit from the pro-rated signing bonus will be on the Packers’ books all four years of the contract, along with Hopper’s base salary increasing each year as well.
In 2025, Hopper’s base salary will be $1.003 million. In 2026 it increases to $1.261 million, and then $1.519 million in 2027.
Here is a look at what Hopper’s cap hit will be each season:
2024: $1.032 million
2025: $1.290 million
2026: $1.548 million
2027: $1.806 million
Hopper adds ‘stopping power’ to the Packers linebacker unit, as GM Brian Gutekunst said after the draft. If we are going to put Hopper into a bucket, he most likely fills the strong-side linebacker role in Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 defense.
However, as Gutekunst has made clear prior to the draft and afterwards, his priority when addressing the linebacker position was on versatility rather than finding specific Will, Mike, and Sam linebackers. The Packers view Hopper as someone who can wear multiple hats with his athleticism.
“He’s really physical, he can run,” said Gutekunst after Day 2 of the draft, “but his stopping power, when he takes on blockers, is pretty impressive. Very serious-minded guy, I think he really helped change that defense.”
As of now, all we know for certain is that Quay Walker will be one of the starting linebackers this season, everything else will have to worked out during training camp and the preseason. With that said, my guess is that Hopper’s biggest impact this season comes on special teams.